Mike Drolet in Kandahar — week five

There’s a common line heard over and over regarding the conflict in Afghanistan — “what do we have to do to win?” We ask that question of our military leaders, our political leaders and the soldiers on the ground. And as journalists who have spent considerable time overseas in this warzone, we get the question posed to us as well. I wish I could say there was an easy answer but history has proven when it comes to Afghanistan “easy” doesn’t exist. Consider the fact the Soviets used their military might to try and control the country in the early 80’s. One has only to visit the “tank graveyard” outside the Afghan National Army base to see the left-behind rusting hulks to understand what happened.

There’s an irony to the fact the safest time to live in this country was during the Taliban’s reign. This isn’t to say they weren’t a vicious lot but crime was virtually non-existant. Anybody deemed to be going against the Koran was summarily executed. In Kabul the UN built a soccer stadium to encourage “community”. The Taliban used it as an execution ground, suggesting if the UN wanted to build another stadium THAT one might be used for soccer. But on the streets there was little worry about crime. Today, the streets of Kandahar city are as dangerous as they’ve ever been. Devastating poverty and extreme unemployment have forced many Kandaharis to resort to crime. Theft is up. Murder is up. Kidnapping is up. Those that are better off rarely go out. One man I’ve spoken with a number of times says his wife and children rarely leave the home.

So what about that lingering question? Can we win? Are we able to win the hearts and minds of Afghans, somehow convince them we’re not the devil. Will they start turning in their Taliban neighbours and embracing the coalition? More and more with each passing year the answer to that is unlikely. Drive through the city or the countryside with the troops and you’ll get why I think that. The look in the eyes of the shopkeepers is chilling. And the kids…… when they’re not throwing rocks they’ll either point their fingers at the troops like they’re shooting a gun, draw their thumb across their throats to mime a beheading or my personal favourite, plug their ears as if a bomb is about to explode. A Winnipeg-based cameraman on base was on patrol a few days ago. He says he witnessed a man run into his home to get his sons slingshot. He didn’t use it — he gave it to his kid who promptly pelted the convoy with rocks. If THAT man is teaching his kid to hate the troops, you can bet others are as well. And what do you think those kids will do once they grow up and enter a workforce with few jobs? It’s those kids the taliban has little trouble recruiting.

Near the bases away from Kandahar City it’s hard not to see how poorly the coalition is doing. There’s a military principle called the inkblot. It’s related to zones of control. The theory is that if you have more bases that cover more land you’ll have more influence over the local populace. The reality of the situation now is that Canada’s zone of control can be measured in metres, not kilometres. We’re not allowed to use base names in our reports so I’ll just say base “a” or base “b”. At base A in Zhari district soldiers barely get a kilometre outside the wire before insurgents attack them. And there are areas that are so infested with taliban and taliban mines the soldiers won’t go there. So much for the coalition being able to go wherever it wants.

Base B is even worse. Contact happens about a half kilometre outside the base perimeter. Small patrols routinely get into lengthy firefights. The reason Canada isn’t suffering as many deaths as it did in 2006 is simple — they’re letting the ANA take the beating. This isn’t to say that’s the wrong tactic. Eventually the Afghans are going to have to stand up for themselves. So now there’s a handful of Canadians travelling and mentoring 50-60 ANA. It’s an idea that actually seems to be working. Will it train enough troops and police to make a difference? Not before 2011 when Canada pulls out.

Another factor working against Canada is education. It’s not right to say Afghans are dumb. These are a generation of people after all that have known nothing but war. You have to be smart to survive what they’ve been through. But when it comes to book smarts there’s no question they’re lacking. Only 16% of the population are literate and of those only 5% of women can read. So they have no way of reading the newspaper or learning about the world other than what they’re told. And the Taliban are very adept at controlling the dialogue in the remote areas of the country.

We may generalize when we speak of afghans, but they do too. I’ve personally witnessed it time and time again where an Afghan is furious at Canadians for bombing his home or village. Where did the bomb come from, I ask? From the Canadian planes, they’ll always say. Canada, of course, has zero air power in theatre. Deals are in place to acquire helicopters but who knows when they’ll arrive (government promises be damned.) So Canadian soldiers are in more danger because they don’t have air power and have to drive everywhere yet they get criticized and hated for their supposed planes dropping bombs. How do you win?

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I always search out the oddities of different places. When you’re sitting in a warzone you have to do something to keep your mind entertained.

A few weeks ago my cameraman and I spent two days with the US marines. It was an incredible experience. Not only do they have unbelievable air power and resources, every soldier called me sir! Apparently the marines have it drilled into them that they have to treat every civilian as if he or she was a colonel.

The base we stayed at in the middle of Helmand province was as remote as it gets. It was also the most depressing base I’ve visited. You feel dirty all the time in Afghanistan but there, you feel even worse. We spent the night on cots in the tent with the interpreters and the Marine media officer, Corporal Clinton. Perfectly adequate sleeping arrangements. In the morning I woke up and noticed Clinton was sleeping in a giant mosquito tent. I asked why considering it was 50 degrees and any bug that attempted to fly would find its wings summarily burned off.

His answer?

Clinton: Two days ago I was watching a movie on my laptop and I noticed a giant camel spider sitting on my shoulder. I brushed it off but couldn’t find it.

Oh. My. God. Do a search for camel spiders and you’ll see what I mean. I’m just thankful he didn’t tell me the night before! There’s no way I would have slept then.

That day we went to a forward operating base in the small town of Delhi. I went out to the front gate and sat down with the two marines who were tasked with watching the gate. Again, the temperature was in the 50’s. I asked the marines where they were from. One said Texas to which I responded, “so you’re used to this kind of heat. “

marine: I’m not from west texas! (spits out chewing tobacco)

me : ahhhhhh, makes sense.

He then went about telling me how he grew up playing hockey all over the States. He even managed to go to Canada for a hockey tournament once.

Marine: Come to think of it, I lost four teeth in Canada. (spits chewing tobacco at an ant). A**holes!

I’ve no doubt told many of my friends about emerald lake, the cesspool on the one side of the base. When the wind blows in just right it can lead to soldiers gagging on the street. It’s that terrible. But apparently not so bad that an Albanian wasn’t willing to do something crazy for a bet. His fellow soldiers pooled their money and bet him 1,000 dollars he couldn’t swim from one side to the other. He did it, picked up his thousand bucks and then spent two months in the hospital. He was then sent home for being stupid.

Another odd story I heard had a British officer going for a run during a duststorm. The man was apparently in excellent shape but he had a cut on his leg. Since much of the dust in Afghanistan is actually fecal matter he started to feel sick. In hospital he was diagnosed with septicimia, which is essentially bacteria from fecal matter in the blood.